12:00pm – a stroll across the street leads me to a street fair. sights and smells abound, including two separate types of fish worth photographing: Flammlachs (grilled salmon?) and … unknown hanging fishes.

12:30pm – I stop in at an Optik store. After an exam with a woman whose English is as good as my German, I anxiously await the arrival of my contact lenses in about a week!

(Well this is just a pic of me not wearing my glasses… preview of what’s to come!)

1:00pm – I fall in love with this jacket, but decide to sleep on its purchase. I think I might have to go with the red one, I look a bit like the Gorton’s Fisherman here…

2:30pm – I walk past a bakery. The baguettes are strangely prepared for Oktoberfest. (Shouldn’t it be the pretzels who are ready for the occasion?)

3:30pm – I schlep myself to to the grocery store to prepare for the Chicken Parm I have promised to cook tomorrow. Christmas cookies are already on the shelves. Determine that we are having Turkey Parm tomorrow because turkey cutlets are on sale.

4:00pm – I spend the rest of the day cleaning my apartment and watching movies.

Last week, before jaunting off for a week of vacation, I took the presence of two dear friends of mine (as well as gorgeous weather and a light course load) as an opportunity to finally get a group together to Bier Bike.

The premise is simple: book the ‘bike’ for a few hours, buy a few kegs to stock it, burn some CDs, and travel around town having the time of your life. Powered only by the legs of yourself and your 9 closest friends (but with room for 16 people total) (and thankfully steered by a designated driver), there is really nothing jollier than a group of people singing and drinking and spreading cheer around downtown Hannover.

The girl who lived in this apartment before me left me a bike. A free bike in Germany is the jackpot. Since nearly everyone rides one, they’re pretty pricey. Thankfully, I only had to pay 60 euro to get the sprocket fixed (and I learned a new word in the process, thanks to my man’s-man neighbor) and now I’m living the German life. I bike the half hour round trip to and from school most days (unless its raining) and I’m saving money on a monthly train pass, as well as saving my figure from all the German beer I’ve been enjoying.

You can call me Lance.

Unfortunately it’s a mountain bike, so there’s no basket for my groceries. But it does have a bell which I’m prepared to use on anyone walking in the bike lane.